


like a summer shower

by windupclock



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Future Fic, Post-Canon, and a baby turtleduckling!, must a work have plot? is it not enough to have mai and ty lee being tender and married?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:14:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26703526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/windupclock/pseuds/windupclock
Summary: Mai steals her wife away for a lunch date.
Relationships: Mai/Ty Lee (Avatar)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 53





	like a summer shower

**Author's Note:**

> i care them very much.
> 
> title is from pink in the night by mitski!

Mai hums quietly to herself, hands buried in the pockets of her robes as she walks through the long corridors of the palace, nodding to the guards she sees along the way. Even after a decade has passed, the peaceful air in these halls is still something of a marvel, so different from the days of shadows and somberness in which she grew up.

According to his schedule, the Fire Lord should be in his office right now, and her steps quicken as she turns another corner and nears the door.

There are two guards posted at the door, clad in identical green-gold clothing, their faces adorned with the same warrior’s paint—the only people the Fire Lord trusts as his personal guards. To an untrained eye, it would be hard to tell the two guards apart, what with their perfectly matching uniforms, but Mai’s eye is far from untrained. The woman on the right is slightly taller, her frame more willowy, and her hair, worn longer than her fellow warriors favor it, is pulled back into a neatly woven braid, a braid that Mai spent several minutes arranging for her this morning.

Ty Lee maintains an expression of pure, solemn composure, but there’s a sparkle in her eyes as she glances at Mai, giving her a once-over that could hardly be called professional. Mai matches it, although she knows exactly how Ty Lee looks in her regalia and has thoroughly and thoughtfully expressed her appreciation for it more than once.

“Hey,” Mai says, coming to a stop in front of Ty Lee. “Would either of you happen to have seen my wife? Gorgeous, scary as pitch, about yea tall?”

Ty Lee’s cool countenance cracks, a grin spreading from one ear to the other. “Mm, haven’t seen her,” she replies, tapping her chin as if in thought. “Say, while we’re on the subject, do you know where  _ my _ wife is? She’s also very scary and  _ very _ cute, usually has her hair up in two buns, at least three knives on her at all times?”

Mai scoffs. “As if I’d ever go out in public without five blades, at a minimum.”

“Are you here for a jailbreak?” Ty Lee asks, her hand finding Mai’s, thumb gently trailing against its back.

“Yes, ma’am,” Mai says, twining their fingers together properly and raising their joined hands to her lips so she can press a brief kiss to the back of Ty Lee’s. “I thought we could go to that new noodle place down in the city?”

Ty Lee brightens at the prospect. “Well, now you  _ have _ to break me out of here, if you’re promising me noodles!”

“I would never break a promise to you.” Mai squeezes Ty Lee’s hand once before dropping it. She turns to the door, knocks twice, and then opens it without waiting for an answer, knowing the Fire Lord counts her among his most trusted friends and doesn’t mind her barging in on him, despite his griping. “Zuko,” she calls, stepping into the room. “I’m abducting your guard.”

Zuko, who has a brush caught between his teeth as he squints at the top page of a thick stack of papers, doesn’t even raise his head to spare her a glance, just drawls, “Oh? How nice of you to give me a warning in advance. When will you have her back?”

Ty Lee pokes her head into the room, wearing an expression of feigned offense. “Hey! Don’t I get a say in this?”

Mai bats her eyelashes and holds a hand out; when Ty Lee takes it, she tugs her closer, against her side, and wraps an arm around her waist. “It wouldn’t be an abduction if you got a say in it.”

“You know, she  _ has _ a lunch break,” Zuko points out, finally looking up at them. A grin threatens to spread across his face. Mai will never tire of seeing him this happy. “It’s not actually kidnapping to take your wife out on a date.”

“You know I love intrigue,” Mai says. “I’m an incurable drama queen.”

“You think you’re making a joke, and yet.” Zuko gives her a pointed look.

“Pot, meet kettle,” Ty Lee says sweetly. “Hey!” she adds when Zuko scowls at her. “You can’t be mean to my wife and expect to get away with it. Besides, Mai’s not the one who dressed up as a character from a play and ran around committing vigilantism as stress relief. For  _ years._”

“Fine, fine, we’re both melodramatic,” Zuko concedes, raising his hands in defeat. “But my point still stands. It’s not kidnapping if it’s your wife.”

“Roleplay,” Mai deadpans. “Ever heard of it?”

“Disgusting,” Zuko says flatly. “Now, get out of my chambers.” He flaps one hand toward the door. “You’re dismissed. Go be nauseatingly in love somewhere else.”

“Stop acting like you’re not also grossly happily married,” Mai says, rolling her eyes. “I’ll bring her back later, safe and sound, okay?”

“You’d better,” Zuko says fondly, then turns back to his papers.

* * *

Ty Lee tells Mai about her morning as they walk hand-in-hand through the streets to the noodle shop. Mai loves hearing her talk—their lives are several degrees less dramatic now than they once were, but Ty Lee makes the most mundane events fascinating by virtue of her own contagious excitement. She recounts Zuko’s morning meeting with his advisors, putting on voices for each of them that sound nothing like the advisors but make Mai snort nonetheless.

“You’re dumb,” she says fondly, and Ty Lee beams at her.

“I know you are, but what am I?”

“I want a divorce,” Mai deadpans.

“Never going to happen,” Ty Lee says, shaking her head. “You’re stuck with me.” She points with her free hand to the blossom-shaped silver and pink blade tucked carefully into her braid, the hairpiece Mai gave her when they married. “No take backs.”

Mai groans playfully. “You should’ve told me about the return policy ahead of time.”

Ty Lee shoots her a grin as they arrive at the restaurant. “Then you might not have said yes! I couldn’t have that, could I?”

Mai snorts and gets the door for her wife. “Guess not.”

* * *

“Hmm,” Ty Lee says thoughtfully, tilting her head to the side. “Weird, but in a good way, I think?”

“Like you?” Mai raises an eyebrow.

“Exactly!” Ty Lee grins, then takes another bite, nodding as she chews. “Definitely good weird.”

The restaurant is Earth-Fire fusion cuisine, and the flavors remind Mai of her first time in the Earth Kingdom—Omashu, what feels like, and was, a lifetime ago. She’s never been the biggest fan of Earth Kingdom food—it doesn’t have the kick of spices to it that Fire Nation fare tends towards, and she likes her food to present a healthy challenge—but this isn’t half bad.

“Do you remember the first time we had noodles in Ba Sing Se?” Ty Lee asks, clearly riding the same train of thought. “And you took one bite and spit them out?”

“They tasted like  _ nothing_,” Mai says distastefully. “Where’s the fun in that?”

Ty Lee snorts and shakes her head. “They did kind of taste like nothing,” she admits. “But these are good!”

Mai nods. They eat in comfortable silence for a while; Mai jabs at Ty Lee’s hand with her chopsticks when she tries to steal a bite from her bowl, which sets off a brief chopstick duel that Mai decisively wins. “ _Ask_ ,” she says pointedly, to which Ty Lee only grins and cheerfully steals more noodles, successfully this time. Mai sighs. She’s married to a little thief.

She loves it.

* * *

They finish eating quickly, and Mai refuses to return her wife to Zuko on time—or, spirits forbid,  _ early_—so they take the long way back, walking through the palace gardens and greeting the turtleducks splashing around in their pond. A tiny one comes up to the shore and bumps its head against Mai’s fingers, demanding pets. When Mai straightens up and turns back to Ty Lee after indulging the little beast, her wife’s expression is soft and full of love. “What?” Mai demands, barely holding back a laugh. “They chase you around and bite your ankles if you don’t pet them!”

Ty Lee shakes her head with a giggle, wrapping her arms around Mai’s waist and pulling her close. “I love you,” she says, tucking Mai’s hair back behind her ear.

Mai feels herself blush. “I love you too,” she says, soft and quiet. “Goofball.”

“ _Your _ goofball,” Ty Lee says. Mai has to kiss her to wipe the smug smile off her face.


End file.
